CSC Connections 2023: global trust representatives gather in Aruba Auditorium

The Cloud Signature Consortium is an organisation that brings together industry, government and academic representatives at a global level, committed to promoting the standardisation of secure and compliant digital signature solutions located on cloud infrastructure. CSC Connections 2023 - Networking for Impact was designed to strengthen relationships and facilitate knowledge exchange between all Consortium members, aiming to expand the network and explore the latest developments in cloud-based digital signature solutions and trust services.

The keynote speech was given by Apostolos Tolis Apladas, DIGIT Programme Manager at the European Commission, who shed light on the new TCTL (Third Countries Trust List) programme. With the implementation of the eIDAS Regulation EU Member States are now obliged to establish, maintain and publish trust lists of Qualified Trust Service Providers and the services they provide. The success of this EU initiative has aroused the interest of many non-EU countries that would like to replicate the European trust system. The aim of this initiative is to enable mutual recognition of trust services between the EU and third countries.

The subsequent executive panel facilitated a discussion between the main leaders in the field of digital signature and trust innovation, including Andrea Valle (Adobe), Guillaume Forget, (Cryptomathic), Andrea Sassetti (Aruba PEC), Marcel Wendt (Digidentity) and Viky Manaila (CSC President and Trust Services Director Intesi Group), moderated by Carmine Auletta (InfoCert). This was an opportunity to share experiences and challenges on the developments shaping the future of the trust industry, including emerging opportunities and threats, and strategies to address them.

Participants also had the opportunity to visit the data centres of the technology campus, to discover Italian innovation in this area. This included tours of the data rooms, cage and colocation solutions, state-of-the-art facilities and green-by-design architecture. The Aruba Auditorium is also an integral part of the Global Cloud Data Centre. The data centre campus covers an area of over 200,000 metres squared and today holds three data centres (DC-A, DC-B and DC-C) out of the five that will complete the area, also holding a hydroelectric power station inside.

The event was the ideal setting to take stock of the recent green light given by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the EU Digital Identity Wallet, the European Commission’s ambitious project to provide a unified and reliable digital identity system for all European citizens.

“The importance of the CSC Connections 2023 event is made more important in this historical context as the trust services sector is going through a crucial phase. The recent approval of the eIDAS 2.0 Regulation, which introduces the EU Digital Identity Wallet, is proof of this and represents a significant step towards the objectives of the European digital decade,” commented Andrea Sassetti, CEO of Aruba PEC and Trust Services Governance and General Affairs Director of Aruba. “Events such as these are essential as they offer the opportunity for qualified trust service providers, such as Aruba PEC, to compare themselves with other players in the sector, and continue to provide significant contributions to the digitisation processes of businesses, professionals, institutions and public administrations."

“Interoperability is the bedrock of any digital service of the modern world, and Cloud Signature Consortium has embarked on this mission at global level. Our members understood that collaboration is the key to delivering standards available to anyone with an open source license; the recent adoption and implementation of CSC API specifications by the European Commission within its digital signature service is an additional confirmation of our vision,” commented Viky Manaila, CSC Presidente and Trust Services Director, Intesi Group. “We are taking CSC to the next level this year, by adding a liaison collaboration framework with universities and governments. This will contribute to building and shaping

the next generation of experts, keeping pace with consumer demand for seamless services anytime, anywhere and from whatever device.”